All Misha wanted for her birthday was to go to Elitch Gardens and Water Park with her friend Jonah. We only do birthday parties on certain birthdays and Misha opted for no party this year. Fine by me. Her birthday was back in July; she patiently waited (hoping) that we would get to spend a day at Elitches but never begged to go. In fact, one day she said to me, I guess I could have my party next year. Love her.
We finally planned to go to Elitches last Saturday-turned out to be one of the hottest days of the summer. Crazy for August. Jonah arrived at 10 am with his swim suit ready for a day-o-fun. We packed up lunches, swimming gear, a stroller, sun screen, hats and were off. As we neared the turn off to the amusement park, we realized that A LOT of other people had the same idea for an end of summer activity. Our big expense for the day--parking--the girls earned free tickets to the park with their summer reading program (and a kind friend--thanks Angela--gave us three more that her family wasn't going to use). It took me longer to get through the admission gate because of the stroller and backpack, so the others headed to the merry-go-round inside the front gate.
The swimming area already looked packed so we decided to go on the rides until lunch time. The lines weren't too bad the further we walked into the park. We stood in line for our first ride, some whirly turning thing, for maybe five minutes and then it was our turn. It takes longer for the workers to make sure everyone is safely buckled in for the actual ride itself! Kristen was just tall enough to ride the "family" rides. Woohoo. She wouldn't have had so much fun sitting out watching.
Our second ride was a water ride. Not a good choice for your second ride. Kristen and I were drenched and I hijacked my child's hat and wore it for the rest of the day. We had a picnic lunch then came back to ride some more. By about 4:00 pm we decided to check out the waterpark side of things. IT WAS PACKED. We only stuck around for a little while until the kids were bored of all the waiting and headed back to the amusement park side.
Jonah was a lot more brave than my girls and went on a couple of rides with Chris. We went on one spooky ride and Kristen burrowed her head in my side and never peaked once. Good thing. She doesn't handle scary very well. I'd rather not have the nightmares for weeks after.
Finally around 7 pm we were all getting hungry and tired. Chris and I made an executive decision to leave the park and get dinner. The kids protested a little but not too much. We were all pooped. We ended our day at Chili's for a yummy dinner. No singing to Misha though. She wasn't too keen on that idea. Happy Birthday Misha!